[Editorial] Presidential office administrator called on far right to shield Yoon from arrest

[Editorial] Presidential office administrator called on far right to shield Yoon from arrest

Posted on : 2025-08-11 17:26 KST Modified on : 2025-08-11 17:26 KST
The attempt to stop Yoon’s arrest in January is just one of many times the president was ready to exploit his supporters for his personal gain
On Jan 12, 2025, supporters of President Yoon Suk-yeol hold a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood to oppose his impeachment. (Jung Yong-il/Hankyoreh)
On Jan 12, 2025, supporters of President Yoon Suk-yeol hold a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood to oppose his impeachment. (Jung Yong-il/Hankyoreh)

Newly revealed text messages revealed that former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office asked far-right supporters to obstruct the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon in January. As the former president refused to comply with the arrest warrant, even going so far as to suggest that the Presidential Security Service utilize firearms, the presidential office took matters even further by goading civilians into conflict with law enforcement.

Throughout January, Shin Hye-sik, a YouTuber who led the rallies opposing Yoon’s impeachment, was contacted regularly by Sung Sam-young, an administrative officer working in the office of the senior secretary to the president for civil society. Shin was asked to “block the entrance of the presidential residence with a 5-ton truck” and to “send 1,000 people” to surround the residence.
 
Tensions were high around the presidential residence in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood that month, with the president’s bodyguards carrying firearms while guarding the hilltop mansion. We shudder to think of how the situation could have escalated if protestors had acted upon the presidential office’s request and clashes had occurred. 

This is unacceptable behavior, period — not the least from a president whose sacred duty is to protect the lives and safety of the public. 
 
Shin is now calling for a “thorough investigation to take place to determine whether the presidential office was behind the Seoul Western District Court riot.” Shin, who runs the YouTube channel “Shinui Hansu,” is under police investigation for inciting the riot at the Seoul Western District Court the same month, along with Jun Kwang-hoon, the pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, and others.
 
While Shin may be shifting the blame to the presidential office in an effort to reduce his own charges, the existence of evidence in the form of text messages means that the police should conduct a no-stone-left-unturned investigation to reveal the truth of the matter.

Yoon has never hidden his attempts to exploit his far-right supporters as a shield for himself. After a court issued an arrest warrant with Yoon’s name on it in January, the then-president sent an open letter to his supporters gathered outside his Hannam residence in which he beseeched them to keep up the fight. 

“The Republic of Korea is in danger from the incitements of usurpers of sovereignty and anti-state forces within our borders and beyond,” Yoon wrote to his supporters. Now it’s clear who the true power-hungry anti-state forces were. Indeed, even fervent supporters like Shin are washing their hands of the ex-president. 

Yoon is now refusing to appear at his insurrection trial or cooperate with questioning by special prosecutors. This is a man who spent his whole life and career as a prosecutor, sending those who broke the law to jail, before going on to serve as prosecutor general and eventually president. His protests now that he’s subject to penalties for breaking the law are a repudiation of Korea’s entire criminal justice system.

As if that weren’t enough, he’s humiliated the country after news that he resisted arrest wearing nothing but his underwear made headlines across the globe. Now he’s attempting to flip the script by saying that he was injured when officials made a second attempt to execute the warrant for him. But instead of sympathy, all he’s inviting is mockery of his attempt to play the victim in a situation where he’s clearly at fault. 

We have long stopped expecting any modicum of grace and dignity from Yoon befitting his former status as president. But is it really too much to ask him to stop acting like a two-bit thug? Korea is tired of this interminable ego trip.   

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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